1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to textile jet's in which a high pressure stream of air is directed into engagement with a yarn passing through the textile jet. More specifically, this invention is related to textile interlacing jets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One form of conventional textile interlacing jet is the slide jet. This device employs a jet nozzle insert having a yarn channel intersected by an orifice through which a high velocity air jet is directed. Yarn strands passing through the yarn channel are interlaced or entangled.
The jet insert in a slide jet can be moved linearly between an open position in which yarn can be positioned within the exposed channel and a closed position in which the yarn is subjected to that air jet blowing into a yarn channel in which the top has been closed. Hence the name slide jet has been employed for this type interlacing jet assembly. In a conventional slide jet, movement between the open and closed positions imparted by rotation of a lever that is mounted on a jet body. The lever engages a jet carriage on which the jet nozzle insert is mounted, and as the lever is rotated the jet carriage moves or slides along a linear patent between open and closed positions.
The jet carriage and the jet nozzle insert move between the jet body base on which the jet carriage is mounted and an upper sprint, loaded arm that extends above the jet carriage and is spaced from the jet body base. A ceramic plate is mounted on the end of the spring loaded arm and this ceramic plate slides along the top of the nozzle insert, which is also a ceramic member. This ceramic plate closes the top of the yarn channel when the jet carriage and the insert have been moved to the closed position.
In the most common slide jet configuration, the jet body base includes an rear arm that extends at right angles to a lower base arm on which the jet carriage reciprocates. The rear arm includes a spring cavity in which a spring in mounted. This spring engages a rear end of the spring loaded arm that extends along the top of the jet carriage. This spring arm is pivoted, and the spring urges the ceramic plate, located at the opposite end of the spring loaded arm, downward against the top of the ceramic insert.
When it becomes necessary to remove the jet nozzle insert, a special tool in the form of a key having offset cylindrical sections is inserted into an opening extending through both the upright portion of the jet body base and the spring loaded arm. These aligned openings are located between the pivot point of the spring loaded arm and the ceramic plate. Rotation of the key forces the spring loaded arm upward to relieve the force exerted by the ceramic plate on the jet nozzle insert. The jet carriage and the jet nozzle insert can then be removed from the end of the jet body base. The jet nozzle can be replaced by inserting the jet carriage back on the base while the spring loaded arm is cammed to its release position by the special key or tool.
The instant invention represents an improvement over this conventional slide jet configuration in at least two respects. First the instant invention permits removal of the jet nozzle insert, and the jet carriage on which it is mounted, without the need for special tools. Indeed in the preferred embodiment of this invention, no tool is need to remove or insert the jet carriage and insert. The instant invention also comprises a simpler and less expensive structure than the conventional slide jet configuration described above. The jet body can be formed from an extruded blank that can be cut into segments. Relatively simple secondary machining operations can then be use to fabricate a one-piece jet body.